Holum is a former municipality that was located in the old Vest-Agder county in Norway. The 116 km2 municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The administrative centre was the village of Krossen where Holum Church is located. The municipality was located in the present-day municipality of Lindesnes in what is now Agder county.

History

The parish of Holme was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, most of Holum (population: 1,127) was merged with the town of Mandal and the municipality of Halse og Harkmark to form a new, larger Mandal municipality. The remainder of Holum (the Stubstad and Svalemyren areas, with a population of 9) was merged into the neighboring municipality of Søgne.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Holme farm since the first Holum Church was built there. The first element is which means "hole" or "hollow". The last element comes from the word which means "home" or "abode". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Holme. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Holum.

Government

While it existed, this municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Holum was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.